In The News

Newsweek: Half of World’s Olive Oil Threatened by Deadly Bacteria in Spain

Jessica Wapner July 10, 2017
Spain has more than 340 million olive trees, and the world’s largest olive oil producer is especially vulnerable to the deadly plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa. The first case on mainland Spain was confirmed earlier this month. X. fastidiosa is native to the Americas, and its first reported sighting in Europe was in Italy four years ago, killing approximately 1 million olive trees there. Many...

The Wall Street Journal: Japan, European Union Strike New Trade Deal

Laurence Norman, Emre Peker and Alastair Gale July 7, 2017
Developed nations continue to organize trade deals and set new trade rules even as the United States is promoting “America first” policies. Japan and the European Union announced that they have agreed on terms of a new trade deal as the G20 summit was getting underway. “If approved, the pact would represent a significant opening of the once heavily-protected Japanese market,” reports the Wall...

Business Review Europe: Starbucks to Hire 2,500 Refugees Across Europe by 2022

Nell Walker June 30, 2017
Refugees, by the UN definition, are forced to leave their homes due to persecution, war or violence, and they try to start new lives in foreign lands. The world has 21 million refugees, and Starbucks is pitching in to contribute stability to their lives and their new communities by hiring 10,000 globally, including 2,500 in Europe, over the next five years. “The plan going into motion coincides...

CSM: Tech Companies Caught Between US, EU Ideals

Amanda Paulson June 28, 2017
A recent cluster of terrorist attacks has prompted French and British politicians to introduce regulation imposing financial penalties on internet firms that do not sufficiently curtail the flow of extremist propaganda. As a result, YouTube, its parent company Google, and Facebook announced their own plans to preempt these laws that could negatively affect their financial bottom line as well as...

Bloomberg: Britain’s Financial Power Is Already Seeping Away

Alessandro Speciale, Gavin Finch and Steven Arons June 26, 2017
The writing is on the wall for Great Britain as banking officials increasingly question London’s ability to endure as a global banking center after British citizens demonstrated isolationist tendencies by voting to exit from the European Union in 2016. Major banks based in the United States, Japan and elsewhere consider relocating operations from London to Frankfurt: “an exodus would jeopardize...

EurasiaNet.org: Moscow’s Perennial Quest for Recognition

Igor Torbakov June 13, 2017
US intelligence agencies point the finger at Russia for attempting to intervene in US and other democratic elections, but the shenanigans won’t increase Russian influence. “The rise of Donald Trump’s administration in the United States was supposed to be a boon for Russia,” explains Igor Torbakov of Uppsala University. “Instead, it has become a source of profound disappointment for the Kremlin.”...

Project Syndicate: Brexit Strategy for a Weak UK Government

Ngaire Woods June 12, 2017
By calling for a snap election, Prime Minister Theresa May weakened rather than strengthened her hand in approaching negotiations with the European Union over Brexit. Negotiators have less than two years to reach a deal or request an extension. So far, Britain is making three elementary negotiating mistakes, explains Ngaire Woods for Project Syndicate. The country’s leaders have framed the...